Texas Armadillo

How many of you have seen of of these before? We sometimes call them Texas speed bumps since them tend to jostle across the highways late at night. They are mainly nocturnal and make their living by digging around for roots and grubs. This guy is taking a long drink in late afternoon to get ready for the evening's activities.

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Here's a larger view to show his armor plating:

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These can be found most anywhere in Texas (in the country - they don't like it near towns). It's hard to believe they haven't spread to the other southern states. They can wreak havoc on a garden if they work up the nerve to get close to your house.

When threatened, they roll up in a ball and even a determined dog can't get past that armor. When I was a kid, I picked a few up to get a good look. I learned the first time to pick them up by the tail and to hold them away from the body. Notice those claws they have for digging? They will do a number on your body if you hold it too close.

When I was going to school at Baylor (in Waco), I had a friend from Pennsylvania. He thought armadillos were a mythical creature like the unicorn. I nearly died laughing the first time he saw one on the road one night. I thought he was going to crash the car he was so startled.

 

They often eat carrion, which brings them out onto the highway where they become carrion themselves.

Interesting facts:
- They are one of the few mammals besides man who mate with the female on her back. After fertilization, the egg lies dormant inside the female for several months - timing itself so that the young are born in the spring.
- The egg divides and becomes 4 identical twins, who are born with their eyes open and ready to start grubbing.
- The variety found in the states is the 9-banded. In South America, the 11 and 13-banded varieties can grow as large as 125 pounds. There are a regular part of the diet there.
- During the depression, they were known as Hoover Hogs and were routinely eaten. They say the meat is actually quite good, like a high quality pork.
- They are much more dense than water and have a difficult time swimming. When crossing a small stream, they just take a deep breath and walk across the bottom. I've read that they can also inflate themselves to increase their buoyancy to cross larger bodies of water, but I've never seen that.